On the morning of 12th August, 2000 the Russian nuclear-powered Project 949A Antey (Oscar II Class) submarine named Kursk was taking part in a major naval exercise in Summer-X, held in Russia in over a decade of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

It took more than 16 hours to locate the submarine, which/h rested on the ocean floor at a depth of 108 metres (354 ft).

Multiple security lapses and violation of safety protocols, took place on every front resulting in the absolute failure of the Checks-&-Balances systems put in place to prevent any disaster.

An official investigation concluded that the reasons behind the accident. It detailed the possible reasons as follows:

·  Explosion in the inner and outer tube doors: When the crew loaded a dummy 65-76 "Kit" torpedo, a faulty weld in its casing leaked High-Test Peroxide (HTP) inside the torpedo tube, initiating a catalytic explosion. The hypothesis was challenged by the torpedo manufacturer, insisting that its design would prevent the kind of event described. The explosion blew off both the inner and outer tube doors, igniting a fire, destroying the bulkhead between the first and second compartments, damaging the control room in the second compartment, and incapacitating or killing the crew present in the torpedo room and control-room.

·  More Explosions follow: Two minutes and fifteen seconds after the first explosion, another five to seven torpedo warheads exploded, which tore a large hole in the hull of the submarine. The bulkheads collapsed between the first three compartments and all the decks, it destroyed the fourth compartment and killed everyone still alive, forward of the sixth compartment.

·  A freak accident killed the remaining crew members after six hours of the initial explosion: Analysts concluded that 23 sailors took refuge in the small ninth compartment and survived for more than six hours. When the oxygen began to run low, they attempted to replace a potassium superoxide chemical oxygen cartridge in a last ditch effort to survive, but it fell into the oily seawater and exploded on contact. The resulting fire killed several crew members and triggered a flash fire that used-up the remaining oxygen, leading to the suffocation of the remaining survivors in the submarine.

·  A nuclear disaster was averted: Despite multiple explosions in the submarine, the nuclear reactors shut down safely, averting another major nuclear disaster after Chernobyl.

Mamoet, a Dutch company was awarded a salvage contract in May 2001. Within a three-month period, this company and its subcontractors designed, fabricated, installed, and commissioned over 3,000 t (3,000 long tons; 3,300 short tons) of custom-made equipment. A barge was modified and loaded with the equipment, which arrived in the Barents Sea in August. After October 3, 2001, some 14 months after the accident, the hull was raised from the seabed floor and hauled to a dry dock. The salvage team recovered all but the bow of the submarine, including the remains of 115 sailors, who were later buried in Russia.

The Russian Government and the Russian Navy were intensely criticised over the incident and their responses. A four-page summary of a 133-volume, top-secret investigation revealed "stunning breaches of discipline, shoddy, obsolete and poorly maintained equipment", and "negligence, incompetence, and mismanagement". It concluded that the rescue operation was unjustifiably delayed, further adding that the Russian Navy was completely unprepared to respond to the disaster.